


That's enough dancing for today!

by iamglassfandom88



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Injured Kim Jongin, Kim Jongin | Kai-centric, M/M, Mentioned Girls' Generation | SNSD, Mentioned NCT Ensemble, OT12 (EXO)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:00:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27453868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamglassfandom88/pseuds/iamglassfandom88
Summary: They all worked themselves to the ground but Jongin… He just didn’t know when to stop. He never had, he was always pushing himself past his body’s limit, past the point of exhaustion just to get a sequence right after a days worth of training already and he’d pour the same amount of energy and emotion into it every single time, that anyone who happened to look into the room while Jongin was in there, wouldn’t be able to tell that he had been there for hours.Always pushing himself way too hard...
Relationships: Kim Jongin | Kai/Everyone, Kim Jongin | Kai/Wu Yi Fan | Kris
Kudos: 21





	That's enough dancing for today!

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer 1: I am British, so the language, spelling and terms that I use are going to be British English. It’s just the way I speak and write, so I don’t need anyone in the comments, telling me I’m spelling words wrong.  
> Disclaimer 2: I don’t own the boys (obviously) but this is my own story, my own made character personalities and events, NONE OF IT’S REAL. Thank you.
> 
> However, with that said, I hope you enjoy the story and don't forget IT'S NOT REAL!

SM Entertainment. The original idol company, known across the world for its strict rules, tough audition processes, long trainee programs, tough debut processes-if at all, it's even harsher working conditions for the debuted idols, less than desirable management system and high chances of overworking with unfair, shorter promotions than the idols deserve; however, even through all the hardships of being part of SM Entertainment, the best things that have come from it are their artists. Boa, Kangta, TVXQ, Super Junior, Girls Generation, Shinee, f(x), Red Velvet, Nct and EXO- all with titles and respect to their names, all hardworking, talented groups with equally hard working and talented members. Exo being just like the rest of them, maybe even more so, the 12 members spending many gruelling hours in the company building, working on their dancing, their singing, their rapping, Korean, Mandarin and the occasional Japanese lessons every day for multiple hours; yet out of the 12 of them, no one was at the building as long as their Dancing Machine KAI. He was the first one in the building in the morning, the last to leave each night-if he even left, there had been multiple occasions when the rest of the group would come into the studio the next morning to find him asleep on one of the chairs at the back of the room. Junmyeon would always gently wake the boy up, his tired eyes blinking oven slowly and every time, Junmyeon would have the exact same conversation with him, _~You promised you’d be home last night.~_ Jongin always looked guilty, _~I’m sorry Hyung, I’ll come home today, I promise.~_ Junmyeon always looked like he wanted to say something else, but in the end, would always relent, ruffling the boy’s hair before reaching into his bag and taking out a small heated container of warm, pork fried rice for Jongin to quickly eat before their day began.

Their days always consisted of something, even if it wasn’t much, When there was no comeback to focus on it wasn’t as bad but the moment a comeback was announced to the group, they suddenly had so much more to prepare for making their days consist of four hours dancing, four hours singing, two hours for anything, two hours language lessons with about an hour for lunch midday and repeating. Coming to the company at around 6 each morning and not leaving until about 1:30 the next morning and due to all the extra preparations and busier schedules, it was natural for there to be strain on the boys; sore throats for the vocalists and rappers, having to soothe them over hot, honey- lemon drinks and trying to rest up with less talking than normal, there would sore ankles, sore knees, arms, everything with the amount of dancing they’d do over a day. The dance line had it hardest, expected to learn the dances quickly and perfect them within a few days of being taught them, the boys would walk out the studio absolutely exhausted and aching all over their bodies but those aches usually went away overnight with some icing and hot showers and after that, their bodies worked from muscle memory until they could perform the dances off by heart, inside out. While everyone in the group worked themselves to the ground, Jongin...he just didn’t know how to stop- he never had, he was always pushing himself past his body’s limit, past the point of exhaustion just to get a sequence right after a days worth of training already and he’d pour the same amount of energy and emotion into it every single time, that anyone who happened to look into the room while Jongin was in there, wouldn’t be able to tell that he had been doing the same sequence over and over again for most of the day, to get it to that level of performance.

He also had no physical limit to stopping either, even if he was hurt; twisted ankles, bruised legs, bruised hands, blisters on his heels from his shoes rubbing but an injury which he’d been struggling with for a while, was his back. Both Yixing and him had injured their backs a few months ago, towards the end of their last comeback but Yixing’s injury had healed faster as it wasn’t so serious but another factor for his relatively quick recover was that he didn’t push himself to try and get back to dancing while he was resting but Jongin hadn’t been able to do it, dancing was a huge part of his life, a part of him and he couldn’t live without it (always seen dancing around the dorm or in his shared room with Sehun.) During his supposed healing period, he couldn’t go long without trying to dance again and his members hadn’t been able to stop him. Even after the numerous times he’d been caught dancing to their song, they hadn’t been able to keep him off his feet and resting but after being scolded badly by the two leaders, he had finally given in, to resting for about 2 weeks but once those two weeks were up, he was straight back into training again. He was very stubborn for his age. 

It had seemed for a little while that his back was getting better, there had been no signs that he was having any issues, and Jongin himself looked ok, he had been able to go full out in practice and even helped the choreographers to create dances for a couple of songs before it soon became apparent that he wasn’t as ok as he claimed. Jongin, unlike Yixing, had ended up needing surgery for his injury on his lower back, the surgery had gone successfully with him being back up on his feet after only a few days being in hospital. The surgery had healed over outwardly, Jongin being left with a barely visible scar but due to strain that he was constantly putting himself through to get back to his former dancing strength- the internal healing hadn’t fully happened yet and he was soon feeling some effects from the stress, struggling through practices, his body no moving with half as much grace as he usually had, marking the dances instead of going full out and not putting as much power into it which had got him a stern speaking too from some of the staff, accusing him of not working hard enough and needed to work harder like the rest of the members, so he did. He pushed himself and pushed himself until he could work with his adrenaline to push through the pain to get through hours of dance routines. Dance was his passion, he loved dancing, the grace, power and strength of movement connecting with song and being able to watch the audiences reactions to it all but right now, he was struggling. He didn’t feel like EXO’s main dancer, struggling to get through dances he’d done so many times and could probably do it in his sleep and he hated how even standing felt like a chore at times, a throbbing pain in his lower back every time he moved more than just walking or sitting but he pushed through it; he had too.

They had a winter comeback this time, an album which had been in talks for a long time beforehand and had finally been put into the making the past few months, along with all the dances to accompany the songs and the creation of solo stages planned for their upcoming world tour as well. However, as the 12 of them had gotten far much more done in the last month than expected, they had been given a few days break from work and they wouldn’t have to go into the company either, coming back from their last practice session that evening. Junmyeon was in the kitchen with Minseok and Kyungsoo as they cooked an evening meal for everyone, while the others just hanged around in the living room waiting for it to all to be done, Chanyeol and Yixing were playing their guitars quietly, while chatting to each other as the rest of them talked and watched the TV, Baekhyun and Jongdae teasing Sehun, who unfortunately was sitting between them, whining to the remaining members to help him, looking pleadingly at Luhan and Kris sitting on one of the sofas, beside a sleeping Tao, cuddling up to his panda plushie. Kris had just looked up from his phone with a teasing smile, while Luhan couldn’t refuse the maknae, patting the chair beside him for the younger to escape too, yet had to stand to go and help when the beagles prevented the boy from standing up, using his ‘Hyung voice’ to get them to release the boy and brought him back with him to sit with Kris and Tao, who had unfortunately been woken from all the noise and was grumpily spewing unintelligible things in Mandarin against Kris’ arm, the second thing he’d chosen to cuddle; Kris chuckled, running a hand through Tao’s bed hair as the younger man swatted at his hand with no real intent, as Junmyeon had called from the kitchen, ‘Boys, dinners ready! Make sure you wash your hands, then we can eat. Hunnie, can you go and get Jongin from your room please?’ A few stomach had grumbled loudly at the mention of food and as the smells entered the room, it got everyone moving, going to one or two of the bathrooms to wash their hands, feeling hungry after a hard day of working nonstop while Sehun wandered towards the bedrooms to go and get his fellow 94 liner. Everyone was sitting at the table with fresh washed hands, waiting for Sehun and Jongin to come back, the food steaming away on the plates as 10 pairs of greedy eyes eagerly eyed them. ‘Come on boys! We’re waiting for you!’ Junmyeon called out when the two youngest members still hadn’t come to the table after more than a few minutes of waiting. The sound of footsteps could be heard before the youngest boy entered the kitchen, looking bothered, ‘I can’t find Nini, I’ve checked all the rooms and the bathrooms too, I don’t think he’s here in the dorm.’ The food happy looks around the room turned troubled at that, glancing at each other as Junmyeon sighed, putting his head in his hands, ‘He went back to the studio didn’t he?’ Rhetorical question, they all knew he had without even having to ask. ‘When did he leave?! He definitely came home with us right? I didn’t imagine our bear in the van did I?’ Non-rhetorical. ‘No Myeon, you didn’t forget him, he just managed to sneak out again.’ Minseok curled a hand over the nape of his neck massaging it gently, ‘We all know what he’d like. Dancing completes him and we couldn’t have stopped him from sneaking out when none of us even noticed him leaving. To be honest I thought he was in their room resting.’ There were noises of agreement around the table. Junmyeon stood up from his seat, ‘I’ll head back and get him, bring him back home before he spends the rest of his break there.’ He looked tired, the tasks of a leader not easy and Kris wanted his counterpart to just stay home and eat while it was still hot, so he stood up instead, putting away his hunger for now, ‘Don’t bother, I’ll do it. It’ll be easier with me, you know it will- he can’t refuse.’ Junmyeon sat down heavily with a look of thanks on his face, ‘Hyung would you like me to come with you?’ Chanyeol asked, prepared to stand if requested, making Kris smile at his dongsaeng in thanks but shook his head, ‘No I should be fine but if I do end up needing you, I’ll give you a ring. Go on, get eating before it goes cold, We’ll be back soon.’ Before leaving, Kris grabbed his phone, wallet, keys, his coat, Jongin’s coat which he hadn’t taken, his shoes and a couple of heat pads from the cupboard, shoving them in his pocket, still cold and finally left the dorm. He called a taxi in the taxi on the way down, thankful that there were no fans loitering around outside the building that evening, (thank you freezing cold weather) it wasn’t something he needed right now, more concerned about finding his member and getting him home again. 

Luckily the company building wasn’t too far from their dorm, so Kris didn’t have to spend long in the car, it was only around a 20 minutes drive and the journey went quickly as there were not as many cars around to cause any traffic. The building was still open, there were still many workers bustling around in the foyer, stylists, makeup artists, technicians and managers from other groups trying to herd them out the doors into vans or cars. He walked past the Nct boys, who all bowed in varying degrees with awed looks on their faces when he leaned over to give Johnny a quick hug- he would have been in EXO with the rest of them if he thought he was ready, and as he walked away he could hear them all talking loudly and their manager’s tired voice trying to wrangle them all. He made his way up to the 8th floor, where their practice rooms were and where Jongin was for sure going to be. His phone vibrated as a message came through from Luhan, _~We’ve left some food for you both, it will just need to be heated up when you get back. And Kris, make sure he doesn’t overwork too much.~_ The lift had just arrived at his floor as he was typing out his reply so he was able to tell his Hyung that they probably wouldn’t take too long. He also checked the time, it was around 8:45 now and Kris was eager to get back to have some food, he’d been hungry at home before having to come back to the company so he wanted to ideally be in and out as soon as possible but he knew it wouldn’t be as easy as that.

Their fans always assumed that out of both of the groups leaders, Junmyeon was the more affectionate and caring of the two while Kris was the strict, stern faced leader who didn’t show much emotion but in reality, Kris was just a affectionate as Junmyeon, he just didn’t show it in public or in front of the cameras as much. He loved the boys as much as any of them and although he would deny it, he had seen the posts online from fans and antis alike, that he was cold and heartless towards his group which made him a horrible leader, horrible person and those posts made him quite upset; he’d never tell anyone, but he just didn’t know how to act around his members sometimes, especially when there was also a camera in front of his face which caused him to be on the colder side. He wasn’t trying to be that way, even with his ‘cool city leader’ stage persona, it was just his defence mechanism. What the fans didn’t know however, was the fact that most of the time, when someone stayed over in the company building, Kris would usually be the one to go and bring them home to the dorms, it didn’t matter what time it was, Kris would go and get them. He’d done it a few times with each member, Minseok and Luhan only twice from the Mandarin practice Luhan was helping Minseok with, Junmyeon once from Japanese lessons, Yixing four times from dancing, Chanyeol three times from producing, Baekhyun, Jongdae, Kyungsoo from late singing lessons five times, Tao and Sehun three times from dancing after hours, but the boy he spent most of the time going to get was Jongin, and Kris couldn’t remember how many times he’d had to do that, only that it was more than 10 times and it never got any easier, the boy always wanted to stay for longer but Kris never let him get away with it, pulling him from the room on more than one occasion.

He was met by a group of trainees waiting for the lift when he arrived on the 8th floor, all of them looking shocked to see him, bowing respectfully and all wide eyed; he bowed back and put a kind hand on the closest boys shoulder before allowing them to enter the lift as he walked away, hearing excited exclamations of _~That’s the second EXO sunbaenim we’ve seen in the last two hours! And he smiled at me!~_ which made him chuckle at their eagerness yet still feel a bit sad that Jongin appeared to have been there for over 2 hours and none of the members had noticed he wasn’t at home _._ He could hear the thumping of the bass and the intricate vocals of their singers as he walked down to the corridor to the practice room, the song was easy to recognise, Monster, yet the song was just ending so, he wouldn’t see Jongin dancing to that, but the song changed to one of Jongin’s solo performances, ‘I see you’ and it wasn’t a secret that the members liked watching Jongin when he danced to it; it was truly Jongin in dance form, while creating it, he’d pushed himself close to his limits when choreographing it with his dance instructor and finally seeing it in concert had been incredible, he had looked so at peace and so powerful dancing to it and singing to it, that backstage there had been a number of dropped jaws from both staff and EXO themselves as they’d only seen it in practice. Then again at the MAMA awards, fellow artists hadn’t been able to keep their eyes off of him, seniors and junior both, he was ethereal in the way he performed.

Standing just inside the door, Kris stood by and watched as Jongin danced, pouring his heart out into the performance, the practice he was doing, never taking his eyes from the mirror in front of him that Kris didn’t think Jongin even realised he was there; the passion that came from him, from the song he was singing, from the dance he was so in tune with. EXO were proud to have him as their own. 

* * *

Jongin felt guilty for sneaking out of the dorm but he couldn’t get it out of his head that he’d somehow messed up during their practice earlier that day and it was eating away at him the entire way home after they left the company that he couldn’t think of anything else, even when he had his hyungs talking to him or Sehun trying to get his attention. He’d gone straight to his shared room with Sehun, to grab some things to shower, as soon as they got inside, wanting to get rid of the sweat and grime that came from training all day long but even as he let the warm water wash over him, he couldn’t get it into his head to just relax, and enjoy being back home and able to rest for the next few days they’d been given as a break. He was tired, his body exhausted, his back aching yet as he dried up and changed he had already made a subconscious decision that he was leaving the dorm, he just needed to get past his hyungs and Sehun. He could hear them all moving about the dorm, Baekhyun and Chanyeol began yelling at each other about something and then there was a whole load of laughing from the other boys. He grabbed his bag, still sitting on his bed where he had left it and shrugged on another hoodie lying on the back of his desk chair before opening his door and creeping out into the hall. Jongin knew that most of the members would be in the living room, interacting there or watching the TV or playing games and that the rest would be in the kitchen which worked to his advantage since the way their dorm was laid out, in a weird L-shape near to the front of the dorm, Jongin knew that from the living room, as he walked past, it would look like he was headed for the kitchen yet if anyone from the kitchen saw him, it would look like he was heading for a storage cupboard near the front door which had their spare blankets and other items like that so as long as he didn’t step on one floorboard right by the door, none of them would notice he had left, so he set his plan in action; keeping his bag low by his outside leg to the living room, he schooled his expressions and walked out, previously stuffing his cap into his bag to avoid suspicion, this could either go, so right or so wrong and Jongin was praying for the former. His hyungs were chilling together, Yixing and Chanyeol hyungs were on their guitars, providing music as they talked between themselves, absentmindedly strumming random tunes, the beagle hyungs were just being mischievous and annoying the maknae while his eldest China line hyungs were chilling on one of the sofas with Tao, the youngest asleep. They didn’t really pay any attention to him due to the others messing around and the sound of the TV but this was going to be the hard part, getting past the kitchen. All it would take is Kyungsoo turning around and he’d be caught, his small Hyung too perceptive of what was happening around him, and he could always tell when something was amiss with any of them and Jongin was awful at hiding things, so he really needed to be careful.

The three hyungs in the kitchen were chatting while they worked, cutting vegetables and slices of meat, mixing sauces, cooking everything they had in the fridge before their next food shop. Jongin felt his stomach rumble quietly, the fragrances wafting from the room spreading into the hall but he was lucky that none of them heard the noise or noticed him sneaking past the door, too preoccupied with their conversation and making sure none of the food burnt. He relaxed just a little, very aware that at any point someone could come and discover him so he moved with as much stealth as he could, avoiding creaky floorboards and grabbing his closest pair of shoes to slip on and unlocking the door. He took one final glance back into the dorm before stepping out into the hall, closing the door behind him as quietly as he could make it. He called for a car to come and pick him up from a couple of blocks away from the dorms so he walked for a few minutes to where it was going to be collecting him and waited, taking his hat out of the bag and pulling it over his head as well as pulling his hoodies hood over his head to cast some of his face into shadow, should the driver look back at him. The car arrived about 5 minutes later, thankfully without too much issue finding him, and the driver didn’t take too much notice of him so he didn’t have to worry about his identity. Being in the heater car, he took time to look at his phone, it was about 6:20, only 40 minutes or so since they came home for the day but it didn’t bother him, he wanted to go back. He had work to do, dances to perfect.

SM was still full of people, and there were still fans outside, so to avoid making them notice the car as it pulled up and being recognised, he chose to ask the driver to pull over just down the road so that he could walk round to one of the undisclosed side entrances the building had, for use if the company didn’t want the people to see who was entering and exiting. Jongin was thankful for the warmth of the building, it was amazing in comparison to outside in the freezing cold but he didn’t take too much time thinking about it as he wanted to get up to a practice room as soon as he could. He made it to a lift without too much hassle and barely any recognition, with the people who did recognise him, realising that he didn’t want to be acknowledged, only giving him a quick nod or smile. He couldn’t stop shifting in the lift, he just wanted to get up there as soon as possible so that he could get working and not waste any time, he was already stretched and he was just as warmed up as when he left so he’d have no problem going straight into a dance. Of the 4 studios on the 8th floor, he had used them all over the years yet the one they would most frequently use was the biggest one at the end of the corridor, it could fit the entirety of the Nct boys and it was just the best room to use for groups when being taught and creating choreography. He could hear music from inside, yet was in no mood to entertain whoever was inside, it was random music so he knew it couldn’t be any of his seniors or Nct or the RV girls so it was most likely going to be some of the trainees and rookies- he was right, there about 10 boys and girls in there, seemingly having a great time as they each freestyled to the music playing, some random American music that Jongin didn’t like the sound of at all. He took a deep breath in, putting on his KAI persona, the intimidating, intense, confident air that he carried with the character he played, head held up high and his shoulders pulled back to show just how large he could get and pushed open the door. There was no real way of working out who spotted him first but almost instantly he was spotted by a couple of the girls, gasping as they starting bowing, the rest of the group turning in surprise as they began to realise just who had entered and doing the same amount of bowing accompanied with their respectful hellos which he was quite endeared about, plastering a signature KAI smile on his face, bowing slightly in return. ‘I’m sorry to interrupt your fun, however I need to use the room for some practice and this is the room with the best speaker system which I need for my rehearsals, so if it doesn’t inconvenience you too much could you change rooms with me?’ The kids looked round at each other silently communicating before looking back at him nodding, ‘Of course Kai sunbaenim, we’ll just grab our things and go next door.’ It was then a whirlwind of teenagers, all moving around the room to collect things, bags, bottles while one boy went to disconnect the music, the room going into quiet, only the sound of the youngsters moving around and quietly talking to each other. There was another round of bowing as they finally left the room, one young boy taking time to tell Jongin how much he admired him, giving Jongin a sense of pride as he told them _~Well then, I hope to see you on a stage someday, work hard, practice well, rest, eat and enjoy. You’ll make it someday, just you wait. And you never know... maybe I’ll be there to help you.~_ He waited until he heard the door to the next studio close before doing anything, feeling tempted to lock the door behind him for no interruptions yet held back from doing so and went over the the sound system, putting his back on the floor with his hat and hoodie and logged into the computer connecting to the sound, so that he could get up the tracks for all their albums, giving his arms and legs a shake as their intro song started, moving into the middle of the floor to watch himself in the mirror, body going straight into the movements without a second thought. There was no Jongin when he danced, only KAI, something that had always happened ever since his trainee days, he embodied KAI while he danced, the grace, the power, the passion, the ethereal, sensual sexuality he exuded while on stage. He knew how to move his body and how to do it well and he knew how to drive the fans absolutely insane with only a glance at a camera and a coy smile that was more of a smirk than smile. 

There was something else that he’d brought with him throughout his journey with SM, as a trainee until now- the compulsion that he just couldn’t stop until he was perfect, he had everything perfect. He was the main dancer of their group- he had to be perfect and anything less than that was wrong and he could do far better, he had to do better. Even when he was out of breath and close to fainting, he’d carry on going, when he was in pain from twisting his ankle, he’d keep going. He was KAI, he had to keep going. That mentality he’d kept for so many years included every bad injury, including the one to his back, and he’d pushed himself too far with that injury. Having hurt his back from doing the same things over and over again which ended in him getting surgery for it had taken a toll on his strength, having to spend time resting which he’d hated so when he was able to get back in the studio without pulling his stitches, he’d taken it and pushed himself too much for his healing body to take. He started having tremors through his arms and legs from standing still for too long or dancing too hard which forced him to take 2 weeks off for absolute rest but after those 2 weeks were up, he seemed to have improved and was quickly back to dancing at his previous strength during rehearsals and practices. However soon after that, it had started bothering him again, he was once again feeling twinges in his lower back and he was having very small tremors that were only noticeable to him for a while before Yixing noticed and told the rest of the group who weren’t the most pleased and for a few days, Jongin hadn’t spoken to the elder dancer, feeling somewhat resentful, the fact that they had shared the same injury and yet the older boy was alright, suffering no pain and able to dance his hardest all the time but felt like it was his right to tell the members about Jongin’s issue without even talking to Jongin first. They’d reconciled but Jongin still was a bit upset about the situation even now. He kept dancing, his body moving on auto until he had gone through almost half their songs before taking a short break to grab a drink from the bottle in his bag. He felt hot, much hotter than normal but it was most likely the heat of the room, added with the amount he’d been moving about so he paid no attention to the feeling, chugging most of the water, taking deep breaths afterwards to regulate his breathing again and going straight back into dancing. Black Pearl, Love Me Right, Love Shot, Lightsaber, Playboy, one after another continuously with no breathing time, no further breaks as he got to Monster and his solo song. In his head, he knew that his members were going to be disappointed with him, sneaking out but he couldn’t rest until he figured out where he had messed up earlier that day- he knew when he had done everything correct, yet somewhere during one song, he had felt himself slip, or mistime or _something_ and if he could just find what it was he’d be content with himself. He didn’t know how long he’d been dancing for but he knew he hadn’t reached the song yet and after so much effort he was putting himself through, his back was now heavily protesting, every twist, bend aching profusely but he couldn’t stop, he had to find the dance, the steps he ruined during practice. He’d ruined one of the dances yet no one said anything to him, he knew he’d ruined it and he wanted to perfect it, even if he was there all night. The room also felt way too hot, the mirrors had a sheen of condensation against them, his image in them a blurry figure as he moved about the room, doing step after step after move after move.

Kris was still watching when Jongin’s solo song finally ended, standing in the centre of the room breathing heavily and looking very unsteady on his feet. He was swaying and Kris could see his fingers shaking, his head drooping and the way his hands came to rest on his hips and lower back before his knees buckled, the young dancer falling heavily onto his knees, hands catching in front of him stopping him face planting, so that he was on his hands and knees on the floor. Kris felt some panic come over him as he dropped the things in his hand on a chair just inside the door and ran to Jongin’s side, putting one hand on his lower back and one under his chest to hold him as his arms looked like they’d buckle too. ‘Nini what are doing here darling? We thought you were home with us, why did you come back?’ The kid was still breathing quite heavily, swallowing every few seconds as he tried to speak, ‘I messed up during practice, I did something wrong, I messed up but I’m fine I just need to catch my breath.’ All the while trying to get back to his feet, but Kris was having none of it. ‘No, stay down, you are _shaking_ Jongin. You need to lie down, come on.’ Kris had put on his ‘leader voice’, something the boys could never argue with, not even Jongin, even when he was feeling stubborn. Kris helped Jongin manoeuvre so that he was lying down on his back, eyes glassy and unfocused, skin red and sweaty from all the practice but looking worse than normal, as Kris went over to the computer to turn the music off, the room settling into silence except for the younger's loud breathing. ‘I need to get you home, baby bear. You can’t stay here any longer and I’m not going to let you push your body through any more tonight, you’ll damage yourself and it will be more permanent. None of us want that.’ Jongin was shaking his head at Kris, looking as though he’d burst into tears at any moment and that he would try to get up again to try and prove he was alright but Kris held firm, ‘I am taking you home Jongin. That’s final. We both need to eat, and you need to rest.’ Jongin just deflated completely, finally giving up to the fact that he wasn’t going to get away with it anymore, just quietly laying there while Kris went around the room grabbing Jongin’s things, his hoodie and bag before grabbing the things he’d brought with him and bringing it all over to where Jongin was laying in the centre of the room. He helped Jongin lean up, supporting him from behind, to slip his hoodie back over his head but backwards so the pocket was against his back and the hood was bunched under the boys chin before getting the heat packs from his coat pocket and cracking them so that they’d heat up, and stuffing them in the pocket of Jongin’s hoodie against his back, said boy sighing in some sort of relief as the heat settled again the small of his back. Next Kris bundled him into his coat and with barely any help from the boy, got him back onto his feet, Jongin leaning heavily against his side, looking in pain, tired and just small. Slinging Jongin’s bag over his own shoulder, the leader wrapped an arm around his dongsaeng and slowly but surely led him out of the room, hitting the light switch as the door closed behind them, bathing the room in darkness.

There didn’t seem to be anyone else around the top floor so the two boys didn’t have to worry too much about getting onto the lift. Jongin had fully snuggled himself into Kris, leaning his head against his shoulder, Kris felt bad, seeing the looks of discomfort on Jongin’s face which ebbed away when Kris put both his arms around him and pressed a hand down on the heat packs against his back, sighing sleepily. They had only gone a few floors down when the lift stopped at the 5th floor where all the recording studios were, the doors opened and Kris smiled when a few of their Girls’ Generation noonas entered, Jongin barely taking notice of what was happening. Their leader Taeyeon took one look at the two boys before seemingly understanding what was happening and who the wrapped up bundle was. Hyoyeon and Yoona were also with her and had noticed as well, their previous conversation coming to an end. ‘Oh Nini what have you done baby…’ The three women had come closer, encircling the boys, Hyoyeon taking place right in Jongin’s eyeline, speaking to him quietly, raising a hand to brush over his exposed cheek as he opened his eyes and just looked at her. ‘He pushed himself too hard noona, we all thought he was at home but when it came to having dinner, we found that he’d snuck out again and now he’s in pain.’ Kris replied as Jongin grumbled slightly, readjusting his grip on the boy as he felt him go a bit slack, ‘You with me bear? You can’t sleep now baby, I’m sorry.’ He looked at his noonas with a grimace on his face, showing his worry to them but not his dongsaeng, Taeyeon spoke, her calm leadership taking place, ‘I’ve asked for our car to take the two of you home, since we’re heading in that direction now. I don’t want the two of you waiting long for a taxi so don’t try to make excuses but we’ll have to go to the side entrance, there are still fans hovering outside and we don't want anyone seeing Nini in this condition.’ She looked at the youngest member, looking concerned as she put a hand on the back of his neck, Jongin shifting to avoid the cold of her hands. ‘I think it would also be best to give him some medicine when you get home, he feels rather hot and clammy, possibly getting a fever.’ Kris nodded, Yoona taking a moment to speak after just watching since getting on the lift, ‘Put him on his stomach too, we went through something like this with Hyoyeon unnie. She hurt her back once and being on her stomach with both a heat and ice pack worked with calming the pain for a while.’ She smiled kindly at them, ‘Thank you noona, I’ll take that into consideration when we get home.’ The lift began to slow down, signalling that they had reached the ground floor, so Kris had to dislodge Jongin from clinging to him as much as he was, not wanting to draw too much attention before they left the building- if their managers were to find out they’d be in big trouble! Their noonas walked in front of them, looking as regal and glamorous as they always did, keeping most of the attention from the two boys trailing them but luckily, the lobby had cleared out mostly, just some postal services at the front desk and security at the front door to keep fans in line, so it was easy to get round to the side entrance, even with supporting Jongin as they went most likely too fast for his body to handle, if the soft groans were anything to indicate by.

They were lucky that their noonas car was waiting outside the door, their driver waiting to open the door for them. Kris needed the girl's bodyguard's help to get Jongin into the car, the boy’s body having gone limp in his hold and his eyes more droopy. Yoona, sat in the back with Jongin and Kris, allowing Jongin to rest his head against her shoulder as she held onto one of his hands, the clammy feeling not affecting her as the poor boy, breathed heavily and sagged against the seat. Taeyeon asked for their driver to hurry, due to the nature of how bad Jongin was beginning to look, both in his face and the heat that could be felt from his skin but from how much he was wincing, just being sat in the car irritating his back more than at the company. Kris was worried, Jongin pushed himself but it had been long since their debut that he’d pushed this much and Kris didn’t get very worried often- he trusted his members to keep themselves well and healthy, even with all the work but it was very rare that one of them worked through a developing fever. It didn’t even cross his mind to message the others until half way home but by then there was no point and he was much more focused on making sure that their bear didn’t go to sleep right now, but his noonas were keeping that priority, while Yoona was holding onto one hand, Hyoyeon was holding onto the other, pressing her fingers insistently into his palm, the small bursts of pressure against the palm enough to keep his eyes open and listening to what Taeyeon was saying to him to give him distraction, even if he wasn’t really taking in what was being said to him.

Seeing their dorm building come into view had never been such a relieving thing for the leader, wanting to get Jongin up and into the dorm as soon as he could. The bodyguard helped Kris get the boy out the car and helped bring him into the building, the nearly unconscious weight of Jongin too much for Kris to handle alone without assistance. He’d thanked his noonas, bowing 90 degrees while still supporting his member and the only thing they’d wanted in return was to know when Jongin was feeling better, not liking how their dongsaeng was currently looking. The three men were lucky that it didn’t take long to get to EXO’s floor, and there was no one around to pry or take notice so getting to the actual dorm was easy too; Kris wrestled his keys from his pocket, quickly unlocking the door while calling for Chanyeol to come and help him, the giant quickly coming to the door, looking really concerned when seeing Jongin between the other two men, quickly taking the bodyguard’s place at Jongin’s left side as they headed headed into the dorm, Luhan thanking the other man before the door closed behind them. ‘We need to get him straight to his room, now!’ His voice held no discussion and the other boys stood back watching as they rushed the boy to his room as fast as they could, following behind them. Jongin was barely responsive when he was lowered onto his bed, only letting out pained moans and eyes glassy and closing. Junmyeon had rushed to his side after seeing the boy, caring instinct taking over as he and Kris worked on removing Jongin’s shoes, coat, hoodie and t-shirt- absolutely drenched in sweat. ‘Minnie Hyung can you go and get some ice and heat packs please, Kyungsoo, go and get the pain medication and the Deep Heat from the bathroom and Jongdae, please grab the thermometer.’ Kris didn’t even look to know that they were moving to go and find what he required, ‘Baek, grab some water for him please, he needs to stay hydrated and a bowl of cold water.’ Now that Jongin was actually home and in his room, Kris took some time to remove his own coat, shoes and possessions in his pocket, after shrugging off Jongin’s bag before heading back to Jongin’s side, sitting beside him on the bed, as Jongdae, Kyungsoo and Minseok returned with the things he’d asked for. ‘What happened Hyung?’ Junmyeon asked, already wiping a cold, wet flannel over Jongin’s face, neck, arms and chest. ‘He’s pushed himself too far, worked his back into more physical stress and given himself a fever.’ He pressed the thermometer against Jongin’s forehead, waiting for the beep, as the display read _~38°c (104°f)~_ definitely a fever. Next he needed Chanyeol’s help again to help sit the feverish boy up so that they could try and get him to take some medication. Jongin was halfway to being unconscious and they didn’t want him choking on anything so it was difficult trying to help him take the pills and drink the water before laying him back down. There was a pause in movement for about 5 minutes so that Jongin wouldn’t be likely to throw the water and pills up before Kris along with Chanyeol and Tao’s help, carefully manoeuvred the boy onto his stomach, making sure he wouldn’t smother himself. ‘What are you doing now?’ Junmyeon said, rewetting the flannel to wipe the sweat from Jongin’s back as Kris reached for both the Deep Heat and the packs Minseok had brought. ‘GG noonas have gone through something similar and Yoona noona suggested that we try this, they’re the reason we got back as soon as we did! Taeyeon noona, Hyoyeon noona and Yoona were leaving at the same time we were, brought us home in their car. Yixing can you come and do this please? Cream, then both packs on his lower back next to each other.’ He held the cream out to the younger Chinese, so that he could take his place beside Jongin applying the cream on his lower back as Kris grabbed his things and left the room in haste, feeling the panic finally get to him. Someone followed him from the room, yet he was focused on getting to the kitchen, dumping his things on the now clean table, leaning over as he put his hands down on the backs of the chairs, head hanging low.

‘Shitshitshitshit, fuck.’ Whispering in English as someone ran a hand over his back. ‘It’s ok Hyung, you got him home and we’ll get him better, with some rest and medicine.’ Kyungsoo and two of the maknaes were standing beside him, the youngest pair looking quite upset and Kyungsoo looked concerned, ‘Yeah I- I know, I just needed to breathe for a few minutes, I’ll be fine.’ He looked back down the corridor where he could hear, quiet talking and the occasional groan from Jongin as Yixing had most likely kicked most of the boys back out the room since they all came to the kitchen, minus, Yixing, Minseok and Junmyeon. Standing up again he asked if Jongin was alright, the anxious tone in his voice unusual for the leader. Luhan nodded, looking sympathetic towards Kris as the two youngest slotted themselves against him, their large, gangly bodies feeling small in his embrace as he wrapped an arm round the both of them, ‘Good, that’s good. I’ll go back in, in a minute, I just need to put my things away and…’ Luhan interrupted along with Kyungsoo who shook his head, ‘No Hyung, you are going to sit down and eat something and then you can go shower and when you come back out, Jongin will be just where you left him. You’re no good when you're equally tired and hungry and it’s not like he’s alone. The other hyungs are with him.’ The younger boy had already begun moving round the kitchen, taking a couple of containers out of the fridge and some rice from the rice cooker while Sehun and Tao practically forced Kris into a seat, standing close so he couldn't think of escaping. The beagles were quieter, choosing to sit down at the table with Kris, moving his coat and things onto an empty chair, the former running his hands through his hair, the normally immaculate styling ruined and all messy. The smell of warm food, flooded the room as Kyungsoo placed a plate, bowl of rice, and some side dishes in front of the leader a few minutes later, who smiled at him gratefully, tucking into the food half-heartedly, his mind preoccupied by wanting to get back to seeing Jongin. Other than the sound of him eating and the sound of cutlery, no one spoke, although gave nods of appreciation when Soo placed cups of hot chocolate in front of everyone who was now sitting down at the table and to the three boys who’d come from Jongin’s room, ‘He’s asleep now, fine for the moment.’ Minseok told everyone, the three of them sinking into seats. Halfway through eating, Kris remembered something he’d heard Jongin say while they were still in the studio and looked up at the others, ‘Did any of you see Nini mess up at all today during practice?’ They all looked confused, shaking their heads, ‘I didn’t notice anything. Why are you asking Hyung?’ Baekhyun questioned, Kris ruffling his hair again with a groan, ‘Jongin has it through his head that during practice, he’d messed up during one of the dances and the reason he was at the studio was because he wanted to find that dance and ‘perfect’ the movements where he messed up! He was going through _every single_ song we have, on every album! I saw the playlist when I turned off the music, he’d danced to at least 40 of our songs… and he would have most likely kept on going if I didn’t stop him.’ He pushed his plate away from himself, losing his appetite, ‘Sorry Soo, I can’t eat anymore.’ Looking round the table, everyone looked shocked, turning in their chairs to look down the hall towards the bed rooms. ‘40 songs?? We don’t even do that many in concerts! What was he thinking? Oh Nini.’ Junmyeon looked devastated, probably a mirror of how Kris looked currently. 

He pushed away from the table, ‘I’m going to shower, thanks for the food penguin.’ He sent a small smile to the boy as he grabbed his things and headed to the room he shared with Tao, to get his shower gel and shampoo as well as some clothes to change into and a towel. He wasn’t going to take a very long shower, just long enough to wash the grime from his skin and grease from his hair and the entire time he was in the shower, he was just thinking of every worse situation that could have happened if he hadn’t have got to the company when he did. His hair was still dripping slightly when he came out of the bathroom, the towel slung around his neck and his old clothes thrown into his wash basket, as he carried on past his room and to Jongin’s. The door was open just slightly, so he moved it just enough that he could slip inside without blasting light from the corridor into Jongin’s face, the sleeping boy’s head facing the direction of the door. He looked awkward in the position he was in, flat on his stomach with a pillow rested both beneath his head and his lower stomach to balance his spine out properly and his arms down by his side; Kris was sure it wasn’t the easiest position to sleep in but with Jongin’s fever as well as the back pain, it would be best to keep him in this position just for a short while before they could turn him so that he was lying on his back again, with another set of heat and ice packs placed under his back. There was a comfortable chair that the two maknaes used ever so often, in the corner of the room which Kris pulled over to sit beside the younger boy as he briefly ran the towel over his hair before throwing it in their wash basket, just to stop his hair from dripping down the back of his neck or down his face from his fringe. Jongin seemed peaceful, if peaceful means silent suffering and pain. It was clear over his face, his brows furrowed tight and his mouth downturned as he would wince and shiver from the fever. He hadn’t been tucked under his covers to keep his temperature down but a small blanket had been laid over his back just until below his shoulders and down to his thighs. His legs were bare, meaning that the others had removed his sweatpants so that was good that he wasn’t in sweaty, clinging trousers anymore. Kris hadn’t brought anything in with him, so for a while, he just sat watching the boy, soothing a hand over one of his arms when the boy made noises in his sleep until he finally felt himself drifting off, leant back in the chair beside Jongin’s bed.

* * *

‘Hyung...Kris Hyung…’ A noise jolted Kris out of his slumber, blinking the sleep out of his eyes as he stretched in the car, feeling his back click looking down at the boy laid in front of him, whose eyes were watching him hazy and the frown on Jongin’s face was back again. Kris leant forward, suddenly feeling awake, off of the chair to kneel on the floor to be level with Jongin so he wouldn’t have strain himself trying to look at him, ‘Hey baby bear, you with me?’ Jongin tilted his head slightly, a humming noise voicing his answer as Kris ran a knuckle over his cheek. ‘Think you’ll be able to turn over and take a drink of water?’ Jongin hummed again but made no motions to move so Kris stood up ignoring the click in his knees, taking both the bowl and glass of water with him out towards the kitchen, passing the living room where the others were sitting, quietly, not saying much to each other. He walked past without talking, noticing in his periphery that they had seen him as he went about refilling the water in both the glass and bowl with fresh cold water and getting two new packs to replace the other ones before heading back out. ‘Chanyeol, I’m going to need you to help me roll him over in a minute and Minnie Hyung could you get one of the cotton scarves from the cupboard for me?’ Said members began to get up followed by Junmyeon who Kris knew was going to follow as he steadily walked back to the room, being careful not to spill any of the water on the floor. Jongin had closed his eyes again, seemingly drifting off to sleep again as Kris placed the things down on the table before gently rousing him again, ‘Nini, don’t go to sleep just yet, we need to move you again.’ He opened his eyes, blinking tiredly yet keeping them open, even though they didn’t really focus on anything or anyone completely. Junmyeon moved the blanket off of him, leaving his legs and back exposed to the cold causing him to shiver at the unexpected feeling, while Kris removed the now finished packs which would get reversed later on that evening. In the meantime, Minseok had come into the room carrying an old scarf which he put down on the abandoned chair, to eventually put two newly cracked packs into, to wrap around them to give some sort of barrier against Jongin’s skin once he was lying on his back. Chanyeol had just been standing beside the bed at this point so when the leader finally motioned for him to come and help, he moved about it quickly, Kris near his upper back and shoulders and Chanyeol near his lower back and hips wanting to keep those as in line as they could while moving him. It took a little bit of time, Jongin feeling in quite a lot of pain through his lower back which meant the actual turning motion was hard to achieve with just the two of them so Minseok and Junmyeon ended up helping too, both climbing onto the bed on the other side of Jongin so that once they had him half turned, he could be kept in place while they repositioned him until he was finally lying on his back; however, they did have to sit him up so that he could drink something while he was still lucid enough, Kris taking a seat behind him on the bed to he could sit reasonably comfy while he was drinking. It was also good that Jongin was lucid as he was able to go to the bathroom to go to the toilet, leaning against Chanyeol on the way across the hall and back again after he was done.

They got him comfortable on his bed, just as his lucidity began to wane and his temperature spiked again. Minseok put the new packs in the scarf and tucked them beneath Jongin to sit in the small of his back, both sensations making Jongin arch his back away from the cold yet shift down to get closer to the warm sensation of the heat pack. Junmyeon ran the replaced cold flannel across his head again and over his chest, getting rid of a building layer of sweat, whispering encouraging things to him even though it was most likely that he couldn’t understand what was being said at that moment. They tucked him up in the blanket again before the 4 of them left the room, going back out into the living room to sit with the rest of the group. Kris collapsed into the seat in between Tao and Sehun after they’d moved apart to make space for him, previously cuddling each other before cuddling up to him and Kris was glad of the affection, needing a bit of comfort. Baekhyun broke the silence from where he was sitting with Chanyeol and Jongdae, ‘I’m glad that the noonas were there. It would have been much harder if you’d brought him home by yourself.’ The group nodded, all of them looking grateful, ‘Yeah very different but I’m glad they were there and the only thing they wanted in return was that we let them know when Jongin is feeling better. They all looked very distressed when they saw how bad he was looking in the lift. They were very kind the entire time though and in the car, helped to keep him awake.’ Junmyeon had been on his phone through the short conversation, looking up once he was finished, ‘I messaged Taeyeon noona to say thankyou and give her an update; she was pleased that we are looking after him as well, as are her other members.’ Someone yawned, prompting Kris to look at the clock on the wall, he’d brought Jongin out of the company building at around 9:10 and they’d made it back to the dorm at 9:30 after a 20 minute drive. It was now 11:30, after making Jongin comfortable, Kris having some food and a shower, then falling asleep in Jongin’s room for however long, then helping Jongin out again, Kris hadn’t really looked at the time the rest of the evening. ‘It’s late, everyone should think of getting to bed, we’ve had a busy and quite tough day on top of this so I wouldn't stay up too long now, but we will have to think about who’s staying with Jongin throughout the night as I don’t want him alone but I don’t think Sehun should be left to do it on his own- and that’s not me saying you are incapable Hunnie, just it would be easier with two of you in the room to help. Moving him and checking his temperature and replacing the different packs under his back is going to be every few hours so it will be an all nightly thing.’ Junmyeon said, taking note of the tired faced members around the room. Kris was going to volunteer but before he could Yixing had spoken up saying he’d help out through the night and stay in the room with the two maknaes. Kris wanted to take over but he knew that he’d just be told that he needed to rest, so he didn’t even bother. Since that was established, everyone began to go to their rooms though before going to his room with Tao, Kris spoke specifically to Yixing and Sehun, ‘I want you to both promise me that you will come and wake me if anything changes, if his fever gets worse, if he wakes up and wants me- you come and get me. Am I clear?’ The two boys nodded, sleepily, ‘Of course Hyung, but don’t worry too much. We’ll be fine. Come on Hunnie, let’s get you to bed.’ Yixing led the youngest back to his room, the boy looking as though he could fall asleep standing.

Tao had to drag Kris to their room to stop him from checking on Jongin again. The leader was tired yet at the same time he really didn’t want to sleep, he knew he would be up for a while longer worrying about the boy even though Kris knew in his head that he was alright with Sehun and Yixing, the Chinese boy known for his caring nature towards his members. The dorm had gone quiet pretty quickly, even Chanyeol and Baekhyun didn’t stay up long talking, showing just how tired everyone was- those two were usually up talking for a few hours before finally going to sleep. Kris and Tao had spoken for a few minutes after settling down in their beds but it wasn’t very long before Tao had climbed out of his and into Kris’s but the older Chinese man didn’t mind, they both could do with the comfort that it brought. Tao told Kris that he felt scared for Jongin, that he was scared that he was going to be seriously hurt after this and how he didn’t want the younger boy to leave the group which had prompted some tears and Kris having to reassure him that Jongin would be absolutely fine after this but on the inside, the elder shared some of Tao’s fears, that Jongin wouldn’t be fine, that there _would_ be serious issues with his back from then on and he didn’t want to ever see the sadness that would cross the bear’s face if he was told he couldn’t dance again. It had been a rather tiring thing, the worry and the crying and Kris found that the younger boy was very soon asleep against his chest, breathing quietly but it was much harder for Kris to feel close to sleeping. He’d seen how much pain and discomfort Jongin had been in and it was now seared into his brain, replaying over and over like a video in his mind and it wasn’t something nice to think about. He did eventually feel sleepy though, a yawn taking over as his eyes started feeling heavy, so he just closed his eyes and just tried to sleep, focussing on the sound of breathing through the room. 

Something tickling against his face is what woke him, shifting away from the sensation as he blinked his eyes open. There was weight against his side, Tao obviously still there sleeping but what he wasn’t really expecting to see was Sehun, tucked up against Tao’s chest, the slightly older boy’s arms wrapped around him, like Sehun’s were around his back. It was cute and had Kris smiling slightly for this early in the morning. He had been able to get off his bed without waking the other two and gone to the toilet before grabbing his phone and going out into the main area of the dorm. It was only about 8 in the morning so he wasn’t expecting anyone to be up yet as he made himself a cup of coffee while checking over his socials and messages. There were posts he’d been tagged in by fans and the EXO tags, finding many cute videos and photos as well as the classic shipping ones which he just found funny. It was equal amounts endearing as it was strange- that fans could find any look that idols gave each other and turn it into something more… and don’t get him started on all the ship names! He was still looking at his phone when someone entered the room and when Kris glanced up it was Yixing, looking tired but not too badly. The younger man gave him a smile, Kris moving out the way so that he could get to the coffee machine and the cupboards for a mug, ‘How was it last night?’ Kris asked, keeping his voice low, Yixing made a noise, halfway between a sigh and a yawn, ‘It was fine, Nini stayed asleep most of the night and I only really had to get up to change the packs, check his temp, give him medicine and help him to the bathroom and that was maybe only twice. I managed to sleep quite well in between, it was the baby that found it a bit more difficult to do.’ Kris hummed, ‘I was wondering about what time he came to our room. He’s fast asleep right now on my bed with Taozi.’ They both took sips of their hot drink, before Yixing answered, ‘It was about 3 when I sent him out the room. He could barely sleep especially when I was moving around and I didn’t really need his help when Jongin was lucid enough to walk with me to the bathroom, so I told him to go to you. I hope you didn’t mind?’ Kris shook his head, holding in a yawn, ‘No it’s fine, I didn’t even notice he was there until I woke up earlier. If you want to go and sleep some more I can go back to Jongin and sit with him.’ Yixing just shook his head, ‘I don’t think he needs help at the moment, it’s too early for him to wake up and he doesn’t need any more medication. I think he’s comfortable for the moment but I might go back to bed for a bit after breakfast.’ There were more footsteps into the kitchen, Kyungsoo looking all sleepy with his glasses perched on his nose, ‘Morning hyungs, how’s Nini?’ He went to the fridge and started getting ingredients out and left over rice. ‘He’s fine, sleeping at the moment but he was good last night.’ Kyungsoo nodded in reaction, still moving around the kitchen, getting pots and pans out, along with other utensils and chopping boards. Yixing went about helping him, the two of them working together to begin making breakfast for everyone once they were all up. They began making kimchi fried rice with the leftovers from yesterday as well as making some soybean paste soup and chicken soup for Jongin when he woke up, if he wanted to eat. They also included a couple of grilled white fish to have on the side along with some seaweed sheets. To give him something to do to stave off the hunger for a little while, Kris went about with setting out cutlery placings and some cups for drinks. 

As the food had been cooking more of the boys emerged from their rooms, going straight for the coffee machine or to the fridge for juice, all looking well slept with their hair all over the place, none of them bothered with fixing it. Kris had just tried flattening his slightly, not one for styling it much on breaks however much he loved his hair. The maknaes were some of the last to rise when Kris went to see Jongin, passing them in the corridor with a sleepy good morning from Tao and just nothing from Sehun- he never spoke first thing in the morning. Jongin’s door was slightly ajar, and luckily didn’t creak when Kris pushed it open to come in, Jongin was still on his back but the two packs had been discarded beside him and through the night, Yixing had pulled his covers over him, previously being thrown to the side so he was just on his sheets; Jongin looked peaceful, the frown between his eyes gone and he didn’t look as red and clammy, Kris gently rested his palm on Jongin’s forehead and it was no longer hot so that seemed to be a good sign, he also no longer felt sweaty so that meant that his fever must have broken at some point during the night. Kris crouched so he was down near Jongin’s level before quietly whispering to him as he rubbed his thumb over the boy’s exposed shoulder and gradually with the coaxing, there were signs of him waking, the scrunch of his nose, the fluttering of his eyelashes and his hand coming up to swat at Kris’s hand on his shoulder to get rid of the tickling sensation which had Kris chuckling lowly. ‘Nini bear, are you awake? It’s time to get up, you need to eat something.’ He kept, tickling his shoulder until his eyes actually opened, a pout on his face at the ‘rude’ awakening, ‘Hi Hyung…’ His voice was hoarse from little use yet so sleepy too as he rubbed at his eyes, ‘Hi baby bear. Feeling alright?’ Jongin laid his arms back down and was silent for a few moments, letting himself just feel before replying, ‘Yeah, I feel fine. My back doesn’t hurt anymore and I don’t feel hot anymore.’ Kris felt a smile lift his mouth, ‘You wanna lean up and see how you feel then?’ The younger agreed and with a tiny help from Kris was able to sit up in bed, his covers pooling at his waist, ‘Still feel alright?’ The younger nodded again, slumping then straightening to see whether different positions would hurt or not but he seemed alright. ‘Well then if you think you’re alright, what do you want to do, quick shower then breakfast or breakfast then shower? We have a little while before it’s ready so you could do it now but it’s your choice.’ Jongin’s reply was instant, ‘Shower first- I feel absolutely disgusting!’ Kris chuckled at the look on his member's face. ‘Yeah and you also smell’ Jongin made an offended sound swatting at Kris who only just dodged the attack but both were grinning. 

It took only a few minutes to work Jongin up to being able to stand on his own steadily, he was a tiny bit shaky but it wasn’t enough to warrant concern and Kris only needed to be support for Jongin as he was able to walk on his own to the bathroom. Kris waited in his room, grabbing the things that he’d bring back out into the kitchen, the bowl, glass, the packs to be renewed and he threw the scarf and the blanket into the wash. When he heard the bathroom door open again a little while later, he helped Jongin back into his room; he’d needed to help the boy put his top and hoodie on as his arms and upper back felt a bit stiff as well as helping him dry his hair, standing behind him as he sat on his bed. Neither one said anything about the day before but Kris knew that something would have to be said eventually if this wasn’t to happen again any time soon and Kris knew that everyone would be watching Jongin for a long time after this. ‘Come on, you’re dry enough, let’s go and get some food in you.’ Jongin’s stomach rumbled at the thought of food, it had been over 12 hours since he’d last eaten anything. Walking back to the kitchen was slower than normal but it made no difference as Junmyeon called out that the food was ready as they got to the kitchen, Chanyeol and Jongdae just behind them the last ones up. Jongin hovered behind Kris, letting his larger frame hide him from view yet Kris just nudged him into a seat beside Sehun, who took Jongin’s right hand into his instantly, giving it a squeeze. Kris sat at his other side, at the head of the table like normal, watching the others as though daring them to say something now, while Jongin was still feeling vulnerable yet no one said anything, just talking about random things as the food was put on the table in front of everyone and before Junmyeon sat down he leant down to whisper something to Jongin which Kris caught _~Just eat what you can, don’t feel like you need to have everything ok.~_ Jongin had tipped his head in thanks and when Junmyeon had sat down everyone began to get something to eat and conveniently, the chicken soup had been put in front of the seat Jongin was sitting at so he was able to get himself some of that as well as some fried rice for now. He ate quickly, hungry from not eating for quite a while but Yixing sitting opposite them mentioned quietly, ‘Nini, the food isn’t going to disappear, you don’t have to eat so fast. Slow down a bit baby.’ Jongin had flushed round a mouthful of rice while everyone had just laughed lightly before continuing to eat... just slower as well as eventually getting himself a small portion of fish and some more rice, soup and a couple of sheets of seaweed. They hadn’t got anything planned for the day, intending to just relax so breakfast wasn’t rushed as it quite often was and their managers were going to be leaving them alone over the next few days for their break which was nice. Jongin barely said anything during the meal and sharing a glance with Junmyeon and Minseok, Kris knew that it was because he either felt guilty, embarrassed or both most likely the latter but he wasn’t in trouble, they just felt worried about him and later on in the day they’d be telling him that. 

When breakfast was done, everyone went off to get changed and washed- Jongin attempting to leave along with them, if a hand on his back from Minseok hadn’t stopped him in his tracks and made him sit down again. It was just 6 of them by that point, Jongin and his 5 eldest members, Minseok and Kris sitting either side of him while Luhan, Suho and Yixing sat opposite them. Jongin wasn’t looking at any of them, his hands on the table, wringing them together and picking at his fingers, looking increasingly small, as though he was trying to sink into the chair and let it swallow him; Junmyeon took pity on him, the kind leader reaching over to take hold of his hands, stopping him from fiddling around with them, ‘Jongin baby, we’re not angry with you. You don’t need to look so frightened, all we want to talk to you about is what happened yesterday and why it happened. We’re not angry.’ He’d still held his head down, but from where Kris was sitting he could see the lines on his face where tears were falling, ‘I’m sorry- I’m really sorry.’ He began to shake with tears, Minseok putting an arm around him as the remainder looked concerned. ‘I messed up during practice and I just wanted to get it all right, all perfect so I went back to the studio but I didn’t mean to worry anyone and I didn’t know that Kris Hyung was going to come and get me and I’m so, so sorry.’ Luhan leant forward on the table, catching Jongin’s eye when he’d looked up briefly, ‘Nini darling, you didn’t mess up _anything_ during practice, out of all of us you are the only one who made no mistakes whatsoever! Baby what’s made you think that?’ Jongin was wide eyed, shaking his head, ‘I don’t know, it just felt like I‘d messed everything up and when I couldn’t remember which song I’d ruined I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I’m sorry.’ There was a shaking of heads from around the room, ‘Stop apologising baby, you don’t need to apologise for wanting to do well but we need you to understand that during that practice you hadn’t done anything wrong. Nothing at all and I think the reason you feel so obsessed over it is from the added work for the comeback soon. Jongin, I want you to look at me.’ Minseok tipped Jongin’s head so that he was facing him, looking him right in the eyes, ‘You know every dance to every song we have ever performed, you know the dances to our seniors songs and our juniors title songs and even if you were to mess up anything, you have nothing to worry about as we know you’d get it right the second time around; and let’s be honest the person in this room most likely to mess up during a dance is good old Kris!’ Said man held his hands up in mock offence, getting a small crying laugh from the youngest as he looked at his older members. ‘But you Jongin, are our Dancing Machine and I bet no one would be able to tell if you messed up even a little, so stop worrying yourself over something like that. We all make mistakes sometimes but I know that yesterday you didn’t do any such thing- you were perfect! You didn’t ruin anything!’ Jongin began to smile, his eyes no longer filled with tears even if his face was tear streaked, ‘Thanks hyungs. Not just for this but for looking after me last night, it means a lot.’ Junmyeon stood up and rounded the table to Jongin’s side, to give him a mini tug to stand up so that he could give him a big hug, arms wrapped tight around him. After that each member took turns to hug him until it was Kris’s turn to give him a well deserved hug, his arm holding on tight as Jongin whispered into his ear, ‘Thank you for looking out for me Hyung.’ Kris smiled against Jongin’s hair, ‘It’s what I do baby.’ The quiet, emotional moment was broken when Chanyeol came bursting into the room shouting at the top of his lungs, ‘GROUP HUG!’ and launching himself at the pair of them, an arm ending up around each of their sides as the rest of them laughed, all of them gradually joining in and entering the room until it was a big old group hug with Jongin and Kris wrapped in the centre, the former yelling, ‘I LOVE YOU GUYS!’ Right into Kris’s ear which had the rest of the group in absolute stitches, taking enjoyment in his pain. 

Seeing how there were no official plans that day, the boys were able to just relax at home, they probably spent way too many hours watching the tv and eating ice cream and lots of junk food as well as some roughhousing between the beagles and Tao and Sehun who they corned against the sofa, at one point getting a knock on the door about the noise which had the whole dorm, including Junmyeon in absolute tears with laughter and aching sides from it too. Jongin was doing good throughout the day, Jongdae made him drink lots of water and his appetite had definitely returned to its normal capacity so he when caught sneaking packets of chocolate animal biscuits from the cupboard he got a scolding from Kyungsoo; however later on, moving from later afternoon into the evening, Jongin’s back began to bother him again, feeling twinges of pain that had him lying down on his stomach on the sofa with a heat pack placed on the small of his back while Sehun rubbed circles on his neck in a soothing way. There were ways they made him laugh when the pain began to show on his face, Chanyeol and Baekhyun acting silly like normal which put automatic smiles on everyone's faces and eventually with medication and the rest, he was feeling just good enough, that he was able to sit up at the table with them for dinner. It was similar over the next few days of their break, Jongin would be fine for most of the day before something small would make the aching come back and he’d have to lie down again to get any relief, but he would always have someone around to cheer him up and sit with him while he like that and over those days, he finally came around to asking the company for a further break, coupled with some physiotherapy to support his back in the safest and most rewarding way to gradually get his strength back up until he was able to last a full day without having any pain. It was hard and he got frustrated easily over not being able to dance properly for months but the less his back gave him issues, the more he was given range to begin dancing again with permission from both his doctor and physiotherapist. 

He was back to his full strength a month before their comeback, which had been pushed back another 2 weeks from its original release date, and since the fans had been told of his hiatus from performance only months before, there was a lot of anticipation for his comeback, along with the official EXO comeback and there were so many posts tagging KAI in video compilations of him dancing with great, kind comments that Jongin would watch when he had the time. It gave him confidence that his fans were excited he was back and that they had been waiting for him. Jongin didn’t promote with the rest of the group when they released their winter album, as they wanted the upcoming tour to have the most anticipation for him to show up. The fans had of course been disappointed that they had to wait longer to see him but not having those promotions gave Jongin time to get looked at by his doctor and he continued with his physiotherapy until a week before they were going to begin the tour. They were excited for the tour, going across 4 continents, Asia, Europe, North and South America. All the boys were anticipating it, they’d packed their suitcases a day or two in advance before the tour started, with the first show in Seoul and after so much waiting, Jongin was finally back to performing with his best friends, his brothers and he couldn’t be more excited! The company had arranged for Jongin’s physiotherapist to come on the tour with him as well as arranging for a massage company to send some of their staff along with the group for their comfort throughout the tour. There was a buzz going around the entire stadium the night of the first concert. There were staff rushing around everywhere, security briefings, attending staff being told what sections they would be watching; the members were being rushed around through costume, being zipped into costumes, and styled into absolute perfection by hair and makeup while the atmosphere surrounding the fans was electric, there were an anticipated 72,000 people waiting for the chance to see their favourite group, their bias member and listen to their favourite songs. Adrenaline was flowing fast through their veins, standing backstage waiting to be signalled into their starting positions as Junmyeon called their saying as they huddled together, hands in the centre, ‘We are one! EXO 사랑하자 !’ The staff began motioning them towards their platforms under the stage, listening to the crowd as the fans went crazy when the music started signalling the beginning of the concert- each boy waiting in anticipation as the staff cued the members to stand as their platforms slowly began to rise.

Kris, Tao, Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Sehun, Xiumin, D.O, Chen, Lay, Suho, Luhan…5...4...3...2...1... KAI!


End file.
